2. Innovation Deep Dive Workshop
Generativity is
Creative Confidence+
Go deep with design thinking to increase your creative
confidence and learn a proven method for innovation.
Saturday (4/23) Phase 1: Inspire
Tuesday (4/26) Phase 2: Identify
Thursday (4/28) Phase 3: Ideate
Saturday (4/30) Phase 4: Implement
Tech Sherpa Boot Camps
Generativity is
Digital Mastery+
Get hands-on instruction in essential digital productivity
tools for knowledge workers and collaborative teams.
Wednesday (4/20) Communications Camp
Thursday (4/21) Knowledge Sharing Camp
Friday (4/22) Collaboration Camp
3. School of Generativity
Creative Confidence & Digital Mastery Workshops
Please join us for a special series of hands-on
workshops designed to boost your creative
and technological confidence this April.
Innovation Deep Dive Workshop
In this project-based action learning class you will be
collaborating with your fellow classmates to create a
new product or service on the theme of wearable
technology.
Tech Sherpa Boot Camp
This series of classes will provide hands-on instruction in
essential productivity tools including Slack, Evernote,
and Google Drive. Laptops, smart phones (and/or
tablets), and Google accounts are required to participate.
Innovation Deep Dive Workshop
Sat 9AM-12PM | Tue & Thur 6:30-8:30PM | Sat 3-6PM
[ 1 week ] [10 hours over 4 sessions]
Everyone has innate creative potential. Playful
experimentation is how we learn as children. We fail
forward, follow our curiosity, seek out new challenges.
Yet over time, our creative powers can diminish due to
lack of exercise. By the time we graduate from school to
the workforce, not all of us feel well equipped to navigate
the rapidly changing times we live in...
How might curiosity and creativity empower us to solve real
life problems? How might we use design thinking to develop
and evaluate new products and services?
As an innovation coach, I have had the privilege of
sharing design thinking with executives, scientists,
teachers and designers through dozens of workshops
across Asia and the US, with companies like Nike,
Kohl’s, Fujitsu, Siemens, and Li & Fung.
Tech Sherpa Boot Camps
12:30-2:30pm, 5:30–7:30pm
[ Wed | Thur | Fri ] [120 minute sessions]
The rapid spread of the internet and mobile phones
have made technology a pervasive part of our everyday
lives at work, at school, and at home.
Whether you are a digital migrant or you were born
with in iPhone in your hand, there are numerous
challenges to mastering our digital environment, yet
enormous benefit as well...
How might we make technology work for not against us?
How might we deal with information overload and tap into
the collaborative potential of the network?
As a tech sherpa, it is my mission and joy to spread
emerging practices for knowledge sharing and
collaboration using tools like Slack, Evernote, Google
Drive and dozens of helpful apps and websites that
have enriched my personal and professional life.
SPRING SESSION | April 2016
4. What is Design Thinking?
Design Thinking is a proven methodology for innovation
using principles of human-centered design to uncover
unmet customer needs, identify opportunities, and
generate novel, useful solutions developed through rapid
prototyping and continuous experimentation.
This methodology was pioneered by IDEO, is taught at
Stanford’s D.School, and practiced at fast moving
start-ups, impact-led NGOs, and market leaders like
Nike, Google, Procter & Gamble, and IBM.
Design thinkers use curiosity, creativity and radical
collaboration to solve complex problems in business and
society.
What will we learn?
This class has been developed based on 10 years of
professional practice, and 3 years of teaching business
leaders and senior managers in partnership with
Stanford and MIT Sloan’s executive education programs.
Upon completing the course you will have gained
experience in how to conduct design research, run
effective brainstorms, articulate ideas clearly, prototype
quickly and cheaply, and tell a compelling story in a 5
minute pitch.
Your ideas can be developed for fun or, if you are feeling
ambitious, this could be the beginning of your journey to
a Kickstarter campaign or incubator program!
I. INSPIRE – What is happening and why?
II. IDENTIFY – What’s the most impactful thing
that could happen?
III. IDEATE – What are the many ways to make
this happen?
IV. IMPLEMENT – What is a small step we can
take to see what happens?
How will we learn?
The class uses project-based action learning. You will be
collaborating with your fellow classmates, and if you
would like to team up with friends or colleagues, please
let us know ahead of time. Teams will be composed of 4-6
members depending on class size.
The topic for the class is wearable technology, but each
team will develop a specific focus.
You will may also be asked to do a small homework
assignments between classes to further the development
of your projects.
Class Schedule (1 Week, 4 sessions, 10 hours)
4/23/2016 Saturday 0900-1200
4/26/2016 Tuesday 1830-2030
4/23/2016 Thursday 1830-2030
4/26/2016 Saturday 1500-1800
School of Generativity
Creative Confidence with Design Thinking
INNOVATION DEEP DIVE WORKSHOP
SOLID.FUZZY
Duration: 10 hours over 4 sessions Class size: Min 9 / Max 24 participants
5. School of Generativity
Digital Mastery with the Tech Sherpa
Why Digital Mastery?
Technology can be both overwhelming and empowering
at the same time. It is easy to feel enslaved by our
devices, constantly interrupted by email and social
media, overwhelmed by endless amounts of information
and entertainment. As new tools come into fashion, and
old ones get major updates, we need to adopt a strategy
of continuous learning and a mindset of playful
experimentation. Change can be either frustrating or
exciting – it’s all about your outlook.
Psychologist Albert Bandura defines technological
self-efficacy (TSE) as “the belief in one’s ability to
successfully perform a technologically sophisticated new
task. The most effective way of developing a strong
sense of efficacy is through mastery experiences.”
Context, mindfulness and play are key to navigating (and
mastering) the ever changing landscape of apps, tools
and services that are supposed to make us feel more
productive, better informed and closely connected.
What will we learn?
Tech Sherpa camps are designed for immediate
application in today’s networked, fast moving workplace.
You will receive hands-on instruction in essential digital
productivity tools.
Communication Camp, “How to Slack”
Stop Yammering, Start Slacking; Navigate the enterprise
chatterverse to communicate more effectively with
teams on Slack. If time allows: Snapchat Crash Course.
Knowledge Sharing Camp, “Rapid Knowledge Sharing
with Evernote”
Master Evernote to become a one-person knowledge
sharing army. If time allows, we will also explore web
tools like Delicious, Pinterest, Feedly and Flipboard.
Collaboration Camp, “Radical Collaboration with
Google Drive”
Put Google Docs in overdrive to supercharge team
productivity via the Cloud. If time allows, we will also
cover the landscape of Project Management tools.
How will we learn?
Each class combines history, theory, and practice to give
you the information and experience required to adopt
and develop mastery of new digital tools.
Doing is the best kind of learning and since most digital
tools get more powerful when shared with others, we
will have a mix of individual and group exercises that will
have you trying out new tools in a safe environment,
where we can learn from each other.
Using a gamer’s mindset we can playfully explore new
tools and discover how to make them work for us, and
not against us.
Personal laptops, smart phones (and/or tablets), and Google
accounts are required to participate in the class.
Classes @ 12:30pm–2:30pm, and 5:30pm-7:30pm
4/20/2016 Wednesday Comms Camp
4/21/2016 Thursday KS Camp
4/22/2016 Friday Collab Camp
Duration: 120 min Class size: Min 5 / Max 10 participants
TECH SHERPA BOOT CAMPS
7. Meet Your Instructor
Aram Armstrong
Aram Armstrong is a designer, teacher,
and entrepreneur, from Hawaii.
His passion for creativity, collaboration and
knowledge sharing led him to start Generative
Ventures in 2015 as a platform for creative
play, entrepreneurship and impact through
technology, design and education.
Aram joined the Fung Academy in 2013 to
lead knowledge sharing, innovation and
experimentation initiatives within the Fung
Group’s leadership programs as a designer,
innovation coach and workshop facilitator. He
has lead innovation and technology workshops
for over 200 leaders from Li & Fung, Fung
Retailing, and Global Brands Group. He also
conducted in-depth research into wearable
technology, the future of manufacturing (3D
printing), and omnichannel retail in Asia.
Prior to Fung Academy, Aram was a senior
interaction designer at IDEO. Starting in
IDEO’s San Francisco office in 2006, then
moving to IDEO Shanghai in 2009, he spent
seven years designing products, services and
experiences for American telecoms, Chinese
manufacturers, and both the US and
Singaporean governments.
He has worked with clients from across Asia,
the US and Australia including Nike,
Microsoft, AT&T, Paypal, Accenture, Fujitsu,
Kohl’s, Steelcase, NYU, TCL, CP Group,
Siemens’ R&D, Commonwealth Bank of
Australia, and Singapore's Ministry of
Manpower.
Aram holds a Masters degree in Interaction
Design from the Interaction Design
Institute Ivrea, Italy, and a Bachelor degree
in Fine Arts in Interactive Media from the
Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
Photo credit: Nicolas Zurcher, IDEO
